Happy Birthday Buddha!

Buddha Jayanti or also known as Buddha Purnima is the most sacred festivals of Buddhist. Buddha Purnima (Buddha Birthday) is celebrated in remembrance Lord Buddha. Lord Buddha is the founder of Buddhism. This day is the birth anniversary of Lord Buddha. It falls on the full moon of the fourth lunar month (month of Vaisakh) i.e. April or May. This day commemorates three important events of Buddha's life

- His birth in 623 BC.
- His enlightment i.e. attainment of supreme wisdom, in 588 BC.
- His attainment of Nirvana i.e. the complete extinction of his self at the age of 80.

This day is a thrice blessed day. Lord Buddha is considered the ninth avatar (incarnation) of Vishnu (Preserver in the Hindu Holy Trinity of Creator-Preserver-Destroyer). Gautam Buddha "lived and died in about the fifth century before the Christian era". Buddha means "enlightened one" - someone who is completely freefrom all faults and mental obstructions.

The birthday of the Gautama Buddha traditionally celebrated in East Asia on the eighth day of the fourth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, is an official holiday in Hong Kong, Macau, and South Korea. The date varies from year to year in the Western (Gregorian) calendar:
India

The birth of the Buddha (Buddha Purnima in India) is often celebrated by Buddhists for an entire month. This month, however is not the usual Gregorian month, but rather the Month corresponding to the Buddhist calendar. The actual day is called Buddha Poornima (or Buddha Purnima), but is traditional known as Vaishakh Poornima. Although the day marks not just the birth of Shakyamuni Gautam Buddha, but also the day of Enlightenment, and Mahaparinirvana. But as a gentle effect of West, the event of Birth is given paramount importance. The event is celebrated by gentle and serene fervour, keeping in mind the very nature of Buddhism. People especially ladies go to common Viharas, to obsereve a rather long-than-usual, full length Buddhist sutras, as something like a service. The common dress-up is Pure-white. Non-veg, as an ethical norm is avoided, but the very common dish particularly made is the sweet rice porridge, called kheer. The story is about the kheer that was gifted to Buddha by the childless Sujata, that was one major link in his enlightenment. The legend is that Buddha supposedly thought that paining his body is the way to enlightenment, as was thought by many at that time, and called asceticism (which was one of the extreme paths that buddha refrained and chose the middle path). He sat for a prolonged time with nominal, lees than sufficient food, and water, that caused his body to shrivel to an extent to be indistinguishable from the bark of the tree that he was sitting under. Thinking of a sacred figurine, sujata being childless placed a bowl of kheer in front of him. Realizing that without food, one can do nothing, Buddha refrained that extreme path.

Sri Lanka

This is one of the major festivals in Sri Lanka. It is celebrated on the half moon day of the month. People engage in religious observances and decorate houses and streets with candles and specially made lanterns.

Japan

In Japan, Buddha's Birthday is celebrated on April 8, but is not a national holiday. It is also known as 'Flower Festival' since 1902 (Japanese: Hana-matsuri or Kanbutsu-e). Japanese people traditionally drink ama-cha, a beverage prepared from a variety of hydrangea.

Korea

In Korea the birthday of Buddha is celebrated according to the Lunisolar calendar. This day is called 석가탄신일 (Seokga tansinil), meaning "the day of Buddha's birthday" or 부처님 오신 날 (Bucheonim osin nal) meaning "the day when Buddha arrived". Lotus lanterns cover the entire temple throughout the month which are often flooded down the street. On the day of Buddha's birth, many temples provide free meals and tea to all visitors. The breakfast and lunch provided are often sanchae bibimbap.

Other countries

Some places have a public holiday one week later, on the fifteenth day of the fourth month in the Chinese Lunar Calendar, to coincide with the full moon. For instance, Visakha Puja in Thailand or Lễ Phật đản in Vietnam was such a holiday on May 12 in 2006. Other countries including Singapore and Malaysia also celebrates Vesak Day on the fifteenth day of the fourth month in the Chinese Lunar Calendar, a public holiday is these two countries.